By Marcus Uhe
Dandenong will have its work cut out in the second day of its Premier Cricket fixture next week against Melbourne University after a long day in the field on Saturday.
In the heat at Shepley Oval, the visitors finished the day 7-345 from their 90 overs, as none of the Panthers’ bowling group were able to make major inroads.
Fresh off their drought-breaking win last week against Greenvale, their rejuvenation under new coach Glenn Marinic looked set to continue as Braden Taeuber nabbed Uni opener Blake Reed with his second ball in the second over of the day.
But that was about as good as it got for the Panthers, who quickly found themselves leaking runs at more than four per over.
Four Melbourne Uni batters passed 50 as they ponder a declaration ahead of next weekend’s second day.
Ben Allison’s 2-48 off 17 were the standout figures, while Sahan Perera sent down 27 overs for 2-92.
With the students sitting in ninth and only four points ahead of Casey South-Melbourne on the ladder, the men in red will be hoping the Panthers can get the chocolates and do them a solid in return.
Harish Kannan’s excellent season for Casey South-Melbourne continued with an unbeaten 90 against Northcote at Bill Lawry Oval, on an otherwise tricky day for batting.
Like last week, the Swans found themselves in early trouble at 3-22, as Luke Manders, Atharv Deshpande and Ashley Chandrasinghe were all dismissed in a three over period.
Kannan and captain Michael Wallace (60) once again rescued the innings but not to the same heights as last week’s record-breaking stand.
Should the Swans continue to bat on next week, Kannan will be joined by Luke Shelton at 6-252 as he eyes a second consecutive Premier cricket hundred.
